Fly Your Ideas with Airbus

Fly Your Ideas is a contest that challenges students worldwide to develop new ideas to deliver a greener aviation industry.  It’s a rare opportunity for tomorrow’s generation to join Airbus in our vision for the eco-efficient aviation industry of the future; to tackle the two percent the industry contributes to manmade CO2 emissions and meet the needs of air transport in a sustainable way; and to win €30,000.

Fly Your Ideas underpins our commitment at Airbus to investing in the future of aviation and its sustainability as a green industry.  It was launched to: engage with Universities and students worldwide and from all backgrounds; stimulate innovative ideas for a greener aviation industry; and identify potential opportunities for R&T development &/or interaction with academic research teams

Fly Your Ideas involves three progressively competitive and challenging rounds – judged by a panel of Airbus and industry experts – concluding with a live final.  Proposals must address the key issues facing the industry: ‘Energy’; ‘Efficiency’; ‘Affordable Growth’; ‘Traffic Growth’; ‘Passenger Experience’; or ‘Community Friendliness’ The teams selected for Round 2 will be asked to develop their ideas with support from Airbus staff.  The five teams shortlisted for Round 3 will win a VIP trip to the final in June 2013.  During the final, the five finalist teams will present their ideas to ajury of Airbus and industry experts – for a chance to win €30,000; the runners up will share €15,000.

Students must register online at www.airbus-fyi.com  and form a team of three to five members by 30 November 2012, created by one team member, the Team Leader.  

A  An Airbus Mentor is an Airbus employee recruited from volunteers across various departments who is selected to work with a University team at Round 2.  The Airbus Mentor’s role is to support their team with the direction and structure of their project, rather than contributing specific ideas or technical expertise.  They also help the team with the clarity and presentation of their ideas, encourage their creativity and support them in finding useful information.  They must not provide specific technical content or solutions to their team.  Those working with the five finalist teams will continue to support them through to the final which is held in June 2013.  Teams are also supported with technical advice from an Airbus Expert at key points of Round Two. See Key People: Roles & Responsibilities.

Before the end of Round One, each team must identify one member of academic staff who will verify that the team are genuine students at the named institution and will lend support and advice in the development of their proposal.  This ‘Academic Mentor’ is a member of the academic staff of one of the student’s Universities.  They are invited to join the final inJune 2013 if the team they are supporting is among the five finalists.  See Key People: Roles & Responsibilities.

€30,000 will be awarded to and shared by the winning team following the final presentations to a jury at the final in June 2013.  €15,000 will be awarded to and shared by the runners-up.

Importantly, students participating can also benefit / gain from:

• Interaction with and coaching from Airbus employees
• The chance to develop their teamwork skills
• The opportunity to enhance creativity and innovation skills
• The chance to improve their project development & presentation skills
• Working with other nationalities
• Learning more about Airbus and the aviation industry
• Feedback on their ideas from industry experts

Airbus Fly Your Ideas was launched to stimulate ideas and exchange between Airbus and the global student and academic community; it is not part of the company’s recruitment process or a vehicle to recruitment – whether internship or employment opportunities – at Airbus.  Nevertheless, one member of the Fly Your Ideas 2009 winning team ‘COz’ from the University of Queensland, Australia, is currently working in Airbus offices in Bremen, Germany, following his application to an R&T position. Finalists in 2011 were offered an internship with Airbus and many are in the process of organising their placement now.

Students interested in finding out about our recruitment process or in applying for an internship or career at Airbus should go to the Airbus careers pages at www.airbus.com  However, participating in Fly Your Ideas can give students the opportunity to network with Airbus employees and gain valuable experience in a business environment.  All of this should of course be constructive and a beneficial experience for students soon to be leaving University and seeking employment.

Fly Your Ideas is open to all college and University students from around the world.  Students wishing to take part must register as a formed team of three to five members.  To participate, they must be registered to study full or part time at a recognized degree-awarding institution until at least April 30^th 2013. Participants could be studying a Bachelors, Masters or PhD level degree in any discipline – from engineering to marketing; business to science; philosophy to design.  There is no age limit.  And students within a team do not have to be of the same gender, nationality, from the same University – or even the same country. Current interns or employees of Airbus, the EADS group and their agents cannot participate.  Family members of Airbus or EADS employees are able to do so as long as they declare their relationship and provide details on the person they know or are related to.

Any institution which has been granted the authority to award degrees by the relevant national government, recognised body or accredited association.

No. Students within a team do not have to be of the same gender, nationality, from the same University – or even the same country.  In previous competitions, there were a number of virtual teams, in which one or more members were in a different location (and sometimes continent) from others. 

Students wishing to take part must register correctly as a formed team of between three and five members by 30 November 2012.  Participants must be a member of one team only.

Teams with more than five members will be accepted if the team already exists as a University work group (e.g. within a course or academic programme). We will ask the academic responsible for the programme to confirm that all students within the team are part of that course.  A button will be visible on the registration page to allow participants to request permission for a bigger team. 

No. Students within a team do not have to be of the same gender, nationality, from the same University – or even the same country. Airbus has more than 80 nationalities who speak 20 different languages among its 52,000 employees today and we wish to reflect that diversity within Fly Your Ideas too.  

Students can work together within their team in whatever language they like.  However, the contest documents and products provided (proposals, submissions, videos & presentations) are all required to be in English.  Airbus is a company, like the aviation industry, that works in English so we feel it is important that all participants be able to participate in our working language.

For Fly Your Ideas 2013, Airbus is focusing on innovation, and would like students to propose ideas addressing: “Energy”; “Efficiency”; Affordable Growth”; Traffic Growth”; Passenger Experience”; and “Community Friendliness.” These have been identified by Airbus as the six key challenges of the 21^st century for a sustainable aviation industry.

Energy

As traditional fossil based fuels become scarce and corresponding prices rise we encourage ideas for reducing energy consumption, increasing energy harvesting/recovery and for identifying sustainable sources of renewable energy that don’t compete with food, land and water resources. 

Efficiency

Aircraft with improved performance and reduced environmental impact are increasingly in demand. Therefore the aviation industry requires new ideas in areas such as enhanced aerodynamic performance, weight reduction, improved maintainability and reliability.

Affordable Growth

Growing demand to introduce new improved aircraft and service solutions into the air transport system requires that fleet replacement and upgrades need to be affordable. Therefore ideas for lower cost manufacturing processes, materials, equipment, operations and disposal must be developed.

Traffic Growth

In the next 15 years it is forecast that aviation passenger traffic will more than double placing strong pressure on the capacity of air transport systems. To support this demand we want to inspire innovative ideas to improve the management of aircraft missions, air traffic control and ground operations.

Passenger Experience

The traveller expects a seamless, comfortable and efficient travel experience with ready access to services and facilities throughout their journey. Ideas could therefore address the cabin of the future, as well as integrated transport systems or improved airport operations. 

Community Friendliness

As airports are closely embedded in our cities, we must maintain a harmonious co-existence with local residents. Ideas identifying new approaches for reducing noise levels, improving air quality and easing ground traffic could be proposed.

Other

Innovative ideas for an eco-efficient aviation industry of the future which are not covered by these six challenges are also welcome.

Airbus Fly Your Ideas involves three progressively competitive and challenging rounds – judged by a panel of Airbus and industry experts – concluding with a live final in June 2013:

In Round One of Fly Your Ideas each team must submit their ‘Proposal’ – an online questionnaire about their idea, including its origin, potential benefits and development. 

In Round Two up to 100 teams will be selected to participate.  All must develop and submit a more detailed ‘Project’ consisting of a written document and relevant appendices such as charts or calculations.  They must also create and upload a short video about their team and proposal to support their written work. 

In Round Three  five finalist teams must prepare a ‘Presentation’ to be delivered to the jury – a panel of Airbus and  industry experts – at the final to be held in June 2013.  The Airbus Mentor and Academic Mentor continue to work with the team during this stage of the competition.  

The five finalist teams must deliver their ‘Presentation’ prepared in Round 3 to the ‘Jury’ – a panel of Airbus and industry experts – at the live final in June 2013.  The results will be announced during the Fly Your Ideas 2013 Awards Event.

For the first two editions of Fly Your Ideas, the Intellectual Property generated was formally owned by Airbus with user rights granted to the university for normal academic teaching and basic research purposes.

For the 2013 competition we have changed this in favour of participating universities. We would like students and universities to be able to share information about their projects to stimulate more exchange during the competition. (The specific details of the new terms are available in the Terms and Conditions found on the footer page of the Fly Your Ideas website).

Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Engineering at Airbus, is Fly Your Ideas 2013 Patron.  His full profile / biography and accompanying high-res images are available on request, via the competition website – www.airbus-fyi.com. 

Each team must identify one member of academic staff who will verify that the team are genuine students at the named institution and will lend support and advice in the development of their proposal.  The Academic Mentor is a member of the academic staff of one of the student’s University. They are invited to join the live final in June 2013 and the Awards Event, if the team they are supporting is among the five finalists.

An Airbus Mentor is an Airbus employee recruited from volunteers across various departments who is selected to work with a University team at Round 2.  The Airbus Mentor’s role is to support their team with the direction and structure of their project, rather than contributing specific ideas or technical expertise.  They also help the team with the clarity and presentation of their ideas; encourage their creativity and support them in finding useful information.  They must not provide specific technical content or solutions to their team.  Those working with the five finalist teams will continue to support them through to the final in June 2013.

An Airbus Expert is an Airbus employee, specialised in a relevant field related to the proposal of the team they will work with. The Airbus Experts will support during Round Two, by advising teams occasionally at key points during the development of their Project.

Airbus Assessors are expert members of Airbus selected to complete the evaluation of the teams’ work based on their area of expertise.  Assessors also provide constructive feedback for each team.

The  ‘Jury’ – a panel of Airbus and industry experts – who will judge the five finalist teams during the Fly Your Ideas final in June 2013 will be announced later in 2012.  In selecting the Jury, we will assemble a cross-section of representatives from Airbus and outside of the company.  We think it is important to bring in external participants to show impartiality in the decision making process and to bring fresh points of view.  As with Fly Your Ideas 2009 and 2011, we will select a mixture of industry and environmental experts.  Information on previous Jury members is available on request.

The subjects proposed in Fly Your Ideas 2009 included:

• A “green” leasing company
• Innovative aircraft design (e.g., windowless cabin)
• Different aircraft or air transport concepts or configurations
• New cabin solutions (e.g., configurations, materials, comfort)
• Alternative fuel development (e.g., biofuels, hydrogen)
• Development of secondary power sources (e.g., electric, solar, wireless, fuel cells)
• Natural fibre materials
• Recycling
• Engine developments
• Using time in-flight to raise environmental awareness.

The multinational winning team ‘COz’ included members from Switzerland, Hong Kong and Germany, all studying at University of Queensland, Australia.  Their proposal was on the potential use of bio-composite materials made from the castor plant for producing aircraft passenger cabin components.  The team consisted of three male students; two were PhD students in Mechanical Engineering and one a Masters student in Aerospace Engineering.

•  ‘Big Bang Team’ from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain for their windowless cabin concept for a new eco-efficient aircraft design.  The team was made up of three men and two women, all Spanish.  All were studying Bachelors degrees, four being Aeronautics students and one a student in Aircraft Design. 
• ‘Kometa Brno’ from Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic who developed a project on an energy recuperation system for aircraft taxiway movements using electro-motors charged during landing.  The team consisted of four Czech male students in the first year of their Masters studies in aircraft design.
• ‘Stanford ADG’ from Stanford University in the USA for their proposal on inverted V-formation flight, building on the model of migrating birds to reduce energy consumption.  The team of Americans made up of four men and one woman were second and third year PhD students.  Four members of the team were pursuing Aeronautics & Astronautics degrees; one was pursuing a degree in Aircraft Design/Optimization.

The winning projects were not only chosen based on the proposed ideas, the degree of innovation and the potential contribution to a better environment, but also on the logic behind the project, the teamwork shown throughout the competition, the rigor of the study processes, and team presentations.  Many of the ideas proposed were already being studied or explored within Airbus and the aerospace industry in general, but in some cases students showed innovation in the way they looked at a particular problem or subject.  Not all of the ideas will find their way onto Airbus aircraft or into Airbus processes, but many of them have been shared with specialists throughout Airbus for further consideration and potentially development by Airbus.  In particular, we are working with both Queensland University, whose team won Fly Your Ideas in 2009, and Stanford University, whose team reached the 2009 Fly Your Ideas final, to explore the possibilities for developing the ideas behind the projects they proposed. 

The highlights of Fly Your Ideas 2011 were:

• Over 2,600 students registered for the second Airbus Fly Your Ideas edition
  
• Students of 75 nationalities made up the 315 teams which entered Round 1
  
• This was a 40 percent increase in the number of teams compared to Fly Your Ideas 2009
  
• Of the 315 teams representing 287 universities, 84 teams were selected for Round 2
  
• One in five participants to Fly Your Ideas 2011 came from a non-technical discipline such as marketing, business, management or design, twice as many as in 2009
  
• Four out of five have a science and / or engineering background
  
• All continents were represented with in particular 44 percent of the teams based in Europe and 39 percent in the Asia Pacific region
  
• Fly Your Ideas, like Airbus, brings people of different cultures and horizons together – 76 percent of the competing teams are international and multidisciplinary
  

CHINA

‘Team Wings of Phoenix’ from China’s Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics won with their ground-based wind power generation system that exploits the wakes of aircraft during take-off and landing.

CHILE

Team Condor from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile won the runner-up prize of

€15,000 for a novel alternative design for aerodynamic speed brakes to recover energy for on-board

reuse. All team members have been offered an internship at Airbus.

INDIA

Team O3 from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee made it to the final, for which they were

flown to Paris. Whilst their innovative approach to prevent aircraft icing by using water-repelling

polymer coatings did not claim top prize, all team members have been offered an internship at Airbus.

MALAYSIA

Team Msia on Mars from the Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology

made it to the final, for which they were flown to Paris. Whilst their idea to use biodegradable

materials from Kapok tree fibres for thermal and acoustic insulation blankets used for aircraft cabins

did not claim top prize, all team members have been offered and internship at Airbus.

SWEDEN

Team SSE from Stockholm School of Economics made it to the final, for which they were flown to

Paris. Whilst their formulation of an ECO points scheme to promote environmentally-friendly flying did

At the start of each round of the competition, a Briefing Pack will be sent to the ‘Team  Leader’, to explain the evaluation criteria and format required for that stage of the competition.  If Fly Your Ideas organisers have any questions, they will contact the team Team Leader.

The competition website – www.airbus-fyi.com – will be a key resource for participating teams and anyone interested in following Fly Your Ideas 2013, as well as housing a personal area for each team using the latest web 2.0 technology.  Each team will have their own private area on the competition website.

Questions from potential participants, participating students, or any questions about the functioning of the website should be directed to info@airbus-fyi.com where a dedicated team is on hand to reply.